UP Diliman took two silver awards at the third annual Reimagine Education Awards for its entry HIRIT or Higher education Institutional Readiness for Innovation and Technopreneurship.

HIRIT is a course designed by Dr. Luis Sison of the College of Engineering to help students accelerate technology translation and startup formation. It teaches basic tools and skills for identifying and pursuing market opportunities, and gives students the chance to network with, and pitch to, technopreneurs, investors, and industry partners worldwide.

A total of 807 entries from 56 countries were received but only 527 of them were accepted. UP’s submission was one of the 140 that were ultimately shortlisted for the category, disciplinary and regional awards. Forty experts evaluated the projects according to innovation, impact, and depth or scalability.

The winners were announced in an exclusive gala dinner held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on 6 December 2016.

Reimagine Education Awards is a yearlong global competition designed to uncover transformative initiatives across the educational sector. It is organized by The Wharton School – SEI Center at the University of Philadelphia, and QS Quacquarelli Symonds, compiler of the QS World University Rankings.